American Boyfriends

Compared to her first film, My American Cousin, this really stank. The lead, John Wildman, must have taken acting classes between the two films, because in this one he's all "actorish" and self conscious, really ruining the film. In the first film he was natural and boyish. In this one he's a parody.

Now whoever wrote the other comment on IMDb about this movie doesn't know anything about this movie. first all Lizzie is Sandy's childhood friend along with Thelma. The new girl Sandy meets at Simon Fraser is Julie Labelle played by Toronto's own Liisa Repo-Martell.

This movie is a good movie with a good storyline but it could have been done better pepping it up could have helped some and maybe making Thelma less aggravating.

if you like Liisa Repo-Martell movies catch Nights below station street, story of a girl with a huge problem one that she eventually couldn't keep hiding.

It's late 60's and Vietnam is an emerging conflict. This is the sequel to My American Cousin (1985). Sandy Wilcox (Margaret Langrick) starts at Simon Fraser University and befriends Julie La Belle. She, Julie, and two other girlfriends head across the border to attend her American cousin Butch Walker's wedding. Butch gives her his old Cadillac. After the wedding, the group splits up. At the spur of the moment, Sandy and Julie drive off to California.

Sandy Wilson continues as the writer/director of this sequel. I get it. It's personal. Nevertheless, I would like a more skilled director. Wilson makes a few filmmaking mistakes. She is not advancing far beyond her amateur status. As a story, I like this one more. The first half is a little messy but the road trip gets compelling. There is a reality of the moment. One could see that the funeral gets a bit too much for Wilson to handle. There are scenes that run too long and dialogue that comes off clunky. I like the better moments more than I feel frustrated with the lesser ones.

This movie stunk. For those of you Nicholas Lea fans out there who are trying to get ahold of this movie because it's listed on his credits and you can't find any information about it anywhere...look no further. Nick has about 15 seconds TOTAL screen time and about one barely audible line. This movie is not worth sitting through...even for Nick. The characters seem contrived, the story is rushed, and it becomes increasingly hard to sit through it as time passes. Honestly...pass it over on the shelf, and get something better.

American Boyfriends is a film that is easily forgotten, which is a sad but true aspect of a lot of films that viewers entail. The problem here is that there is just nothing to keep the viewer into the film, and make them stay completely raptured.

The story consists of a young Canadian girl named Sandy (Margaret Langrick) from Penticton who moves to the Coast to pursue her studies at Simon Fraser University. She soon meets her new "best friend" Lizzie (Delia Breit), and the two hit it off quite quickly. Soon enough, Sandy's friends from home come to visit, also making stops to search for wedding dresses for one of the girls. Before you know it, all four of the girls are off to Portland to visit Sandy's cousin Butch's wedding. The rest is just pure spontaneity, and seems a bit far fetched of what two fresh university students would do, but the preposterousness was probably intended by the director.

Don't get me wrong: American Boyfriends is not a bad film, it's just not great. The acting is decent, the storyline is a bit lacking, but in general, it's just one of those films you probably won't remember you watched until you begin to watch it again.